Lovers so True
by Darkstar7
Summary: Aragorn/Legolas slash. This is the tale of the doomed affair of the fellowship, the love between Legolas and Aragorn. Here follows everything from when Merry and Pippin were captured by Orcs to the defeat of the Dark Lord.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Notes: This is the revised Chapter One!!! Yay, I finally got it up! Oh, yeah, and if you somehow missed the big capital letters saying SLASH in the summary, you'd better realize what this is. This is boy falling in love with other boy. So if you don't like, don't read. And I know in the movie Aragorn had brown eyes, but in the book he had gray eyes.

The night is growing colder. I see Gimli tossing in his sleep, muttering to himself. Aragorn is lying with his back to me, and shadow within a shadow. My watch was over some time ago, but I am far too restless to sleep. Besides, a little extra sleep would do Gimli good. Sometimes I worry about him, for he never seems to be fully rested. Of course, none of us are in good spirits, and it may be that the weariness is in his heart, and not his body. 

Boromir is dead, Merry and Pippin are captured, and Frodo and Sam have gone to take the Ring to Mordor alone. But this endless chase is starting to tell on the Dwarf, and I fear he is fast losing hope of ever finding the young hobbits.

And Aragorn. Our leader, the bravest of hearts and the strongest of souls, is looking for the light in all this rain. He doesn't say it, but I know he feels responsible for the capture of Merry and Pippin. The burden of grief lies heavy on his shoulders, and he will not let me help him to ease it.

Oh gods, I love him. 

His wavy dark hair, his strong, proud face, and his gentle, healer's hands. Everything about him speaks to me in some way. But especially his eyes.

His beautiful gray eyes, the color of storm clouds over the sea. From the first time I saw him I was captivated by his eyes. They were always shifting, swirling with unnamable emotions, subtly changing hues with each mood. So human. So heartbreakingly human.

And when I got to know him, it got immeasurably worse. I started to notice the darkness that shrouded him. His soul had shadows lurking in it's depths. Long forgotten secrets flicker in his gray eyes, like light reflecting off a broken mirror. Perhaps his darkness is why I am drawn to him. I feel the need to ease his heartache and sorrow. 

I know he feels compassion, but he seldom shows it. He loves so much and never says a word. It seems he is afraid someone will hurt him if he feels anything. Oh, Aragorn. I'd never hurt you. 

He needs someone to care for him, someone who loves him without conditions. Who loves him, not in spite of his faults, but because of his willingness to fix them.

But there is someone who realized this before me, and has captured my Ranger's heart. Arwen. How can I ever compare with her? It doesn't surprise me that they love each other, for they are so similar. They both are dark, deep, and mysterious, separate from the rest of the world. 

I know I must never let his know how I feel. I could not bear to see the disgust or rejection in his face. All I will ever have is his friendship, and I will not throw that away for feelings he doesn't return. 

But when he looks at me with his devastatingly beautiful eyes, I find it so hard to be content with mere friendship. He has no idea how much every clap on the shoulder, every accidental touch means to me. 

I don't know how much more of this I can take, being so close to him and yet unable to tell him how much I care for him. I am like a moth drawn to a dark flame. I would burn up in the ecstasy of telling him I love him.

Softly, I begin to sing. A song of still forests and deep waters, of newborn stars in the midnight sky. A lullaby of my childhood that has always comforted me in the past. Tonight, however, it brings me no peace. 

The notes drift up into the cold air, a quiet countermelody to the music of the earth. Soon, I would have to wake up Aragorn for his turn at guard. But for now, at least, I can sit here and pretend. Pretend that there was no Sauron, no Ring. Pretend that Merry and Pippin had not been captured, that Gandalf was still alive. 

I could even pretend that I was not hopelessly and completely in love with my captain, my leader, my friend. My Aragorn.


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Notes: Alright, the second chapter is up! This one's from our dear king's POV. And before I get started, I'd like to thank everyone who gave me reviews! I wasn't sure how well LOTR slash would be received, and it's good to know that I'm not the only crazy one! Also, before there's a chapter 3 I'm gonna edit the first one cause I didn't realize how much it sucked. Ok, enough of my random babbling, on with the fic!!

The pulsing sound of hoof beats was growing dimmer, fading away into the earth. The Riders of Rohan had long been gone from my sight, but I could still sense the faint tremors in the ground. We have been loaned horses, and for that I am grateful. Anything that helps our search for the hobbits is a blessing.

But I fear we will have to stop soon, for we have not rested for many an hour. And now Gimli insists on taking the second watch every night, the hardest because you get waken up twice. 

Ever since he heard that Legolas took his watch for him, he's been cheerfully annoyed at the Elf. I can hear their playful bantering from behind me, a friendly argument about nothing at all. And I try to tell myself that the sour taste flooding my mouth is not jealousy. As I sit there on my horse, by body rides forward, but my mind flies back into memory.

The first time I saw Arwen. Her delicate beauty, her hair as dark as night, and her passionate love of life. When she told me that she loved me, I was amazed. I could not believe it, that so lovely a creature could feel anything for a me. So I smiled and told her I loved her, too. 

But when she said she would give up immortality for me, I could not name the emotion I felt. I had always assumed it was love. After all, I thought, what else could it be? I was secure in my delusions for a long while, ignoring the feeling that bothered me every time she looked at me. I realize now what it was. 

Guilt. Guilt because I didn't love her, at least not in the way that she wanted me to. I told myself that I could learn to love her as more than a dear friend. But my blind faith was shattered like glass the first time Legolas smiled at me.

I don't know how to describe that moment. I felt an emotion so strong it made everything I'd ever felt before seem a pale shadow in comparison. It was as if my world had been destroyed and rebuilt in an instant, like I was standing on the shores of a sea of silver light.

And when I looked into his clear blue eyes, bright as the evening star and as mysterious as the sea, I felt myself being pulled into the depths of his soul, seeing the pure light of his being, his self. I knew then that I wouldn't care if the mountains crumbled and the kingdoms fell, so long as I never had to look away from his eyes.

Later, I tried to convince myself that what I felt was only a symptom of missing Arwen, that I was substituting Legolas for my betrothed. After all, they both speak the same fluid language, have the same hauntingly beautiful voice. 

But when I saw him standing watch one night, the moonlight making him glow with a soft radiance and turning his hair to liquid silver, I knew it was not Arwen I saw. In all his grace and ethereal beauty, it was Legolas, standing guard over us all.

I felt as if I would weep for his beauty. But I know my tears would turn to dust before they hit the ground. Such is the fate of Isildur's heir, to love from behind a glass wall. 

But now that I have stopped lying to myself, I realize how hopeless it is. Legolas is an Elf of the High Kindred, destined to live forever. And I know he would not give up immortality even if he did love me. Arwen in an Elf maiden, but Legolas is a prince, and a warrior. He would not, could not, abandon his people for the love of a mortal anymore than I could abandon my kingdom for him.

Besides, Legolas walks the path of the deep forests and sunlit glades. He could never be content to live within the confinements of stone and mortar, and I would not ask him to. His heart would always yearn for the trees he left behind.

But my thoughts are pointless. Why am I even bothering to contemplate what I would do if he loved me? I know he cannot. He is a being of pure light and beauty, who has not been jaded by the greed of the world. What would he want with the tired king of the failing race of Men? With me, who carries so many scars and regrets on my soul. 

It seems we are separated by the very hand of Fate. It is as if we are standing on opposite sides of a bottomless chasm. If only I could build a bridge of love across the ravine.

But no, he is locked behind a barrier of friendship, a barrier I will never dare to break. For I fear there may be nothing left if that barrier is gone. I know comrades is all I can hope for. I know it is for the best. But why does it have to hurt so much? Why must I love but never feel?

The night gives me no answers, merely shrouds me in darkness. Legolas, Gimli, and I are no longer the Three Hunters. We have become the Three Shadows, riding toward Death with wings on our feet.


End file.
